Category Archive for: ‘NEW Values’

“Hope is a great thing to have and to feel. ‘I hope’ is not a good thing to say. The hardest commitment is to lead your life from the inside out, not from hope but from trust, willingness and commitment in the spirit of optimism, pragmatism and humanism.”

JA: Let’s talk about one other area, the difference in small and big businesses. One of your new game mantras is “Love serve and love some more.” That is a very, very different approach with a mantra, especially in this world, you use “love serve, love some more.” Where are we going with this, buddy?

MA: I couldn’t get away with that fifteen years ago. I’d have been laughed out of the offices where I went in.

I’ve seen an evolution. You and I have talked about the science of axiology, the science of human values. A model I developed I call the hierarchy of human interaction. If you look at this one thing right here what I’m going to tell you has changed businesses around completely. The hierarchy is a three dimensional model.

The hierarchy from bottom to top is:

Obey, Serve, and Love. Let me explain.

MA: There are the three levels of human interaction:

The lowest level of human interaction is when you call up a company for service, you want a problem solved and you hear those dreaded words, “I’m sorry, Mr. Assaraf, that’s our policy here. Those are the rules. Those are our procedures.”

Just the words themselves make my skin crawl. That’s the lowest level of human interaction that ninety percent of the businesses out there are playing at meaning they spend more time trying to get the customer to understand why they can’t help the customer because they have their rules.

The policy approach to customer human interaction is the lowest level. Unfortunately, most companies do that. You will transform your business if you just up-level one level to service. Instead of saying, “Sorry, that’s our policy here” say,

“How can I help you? How can I serve you?”

Companies literally transformed their customer service with this question. And this is one of the things that we show companies how to do which has had such an enormous effect.

How do you convert customer service from an expense department into a new business profit center? When somebody comes and calls for service, never, ever put your rules and policies ahead of serving the customer, unless there is some potential legal liability. But if there is anything other than some legal ramifications, always put serving ahead of obeying.

You could stop there and transform your company. But here’s the highest level of human interaction; it is love. It’s the difference of saying to somebody, “How can I serve you?” which is a great thing to do in going through the process and listening to somebody and saying, “You know what, John, I really understand you. I understand how you feel.”

That shift to compassion, empathy, understanding, sympathizing with people, even if you heard that complaint fifty times that day, people will overlook bad service when they feel they are cared about. The thing that has resonated with me and for a lot of people I’ve shared it with, I do what I do for one reason, I play the game for the love of the game.

I believe that The New Game of Business is about playing the game for the love of the game. Why? Because it’s not just business, it’s personal. People love to be cared for. They’ll overlook mistakes. They’ll overlook bad policies. They’ll overlook most anything if you care about them. The insurance industry did a study; they realized that eighty percent of the customers would buy again if one thing happened that’s not happening. You’re not going to believe what it is–if the agent would just show up.

This mantra “love serve and love some more”, is almost like love until it hurts. I’m not saying that this should be a Polly Anna approach. This is a very pragmatic philosophy and strategy of business. People warm up to it. People respond to it because there are so few experiences out there that we have in the course of our lives that we can point to and say, “That person cared about me. That person served me and that person did everything they could and they did it in the spirit of love.” You know when somebody is doing something in the spirit of love and caring and serving as opposed to just doing it because they have to. That’s become one of my new mantras.

JA: It’s interesting because there is evidence when we love a plant, animal, or human, the response is great. One of the hierarchy of human need is love. We beg for it from the time we are born. Without it we become so small, we don’t grow and we don’t mature. I think you’re one hundred percent right, in the game of business we can love our customers. We can show them respect and love and kindness and compassion and in doing that we appeal to a higher sense of humanity. I’ve always believed that.

I was fortunate that my business partners we very, very successful, not just because they were smart businessmen but because they really cared about people and people knew that and everybody wanted to do business with them. To this day everybody wants to do business with them.

I think, by the way, Mitch, you have a book right there with your pyramid, “Love Serve Obey, The New Rules for Business in America.” “Love Serve Obey” with a great tag line underneath, “The New Rules for Business in America.” Huge. Just a thought for you.

MA: Thank you, John. I appreciate it. You know we’re all too close to our own stuff.

JA: It’s so unique. For those of you listening, I hope you don’t mind, there’s a great idea of how do you separate yourself, how do you differentiate yourself? Nobody is doing that in corporate America right now. Guess what, it’s what they need to hear. Every single business from a one-man operation or one-woman operation all the way up, if they follow the Love Serve Obey model, business would transform.

MA: Yes. And you know what? People get hung up on the words, they get hung up on, “Did I say the right thing?” What I try to do with people is say, “Just relax because when you’re coming from Love and Serve, people get it.” And you could make a mistake just to see how people would respond and apologize for the mistake and people will bend over backwards. You’re absolutely right.

And if you buy into the idea that it’s not just business, it’s personal, then love is actually good for business. It would be wonderful if it spread not just in terms of the client, the customer business relationship, but if companies who I believe a lot of major corporations have if companies could start appreciating their human assets as human beings, not just points on a balance sheet, they would never lose anybody. People want to be cared for and they want to be cared about and that’s really got to start from the CEO down.

A confluence of forces is conspiring to create a cauldron of critical change.

We are experiencing seismic shifts in the economic, political, ecological, technological, scientific, educational, social, and spiritual dimensions of life. We face humanitarian challenges of the size and scope not faced by any generation before us.

We have created a bit of a mess to clean up on this globe. Clean it up we must, for if we don’t, the stench will stay with us for generations.

Our storehouse of information and knowledge expand more in one year than past generations experienced in a lifetime. Yet, with all we know, we can’t find the wisdom to live together without poverty, hunger and war.

Never before has so much critical change converged at one time on one generation.

If change is your enemy, the road ahead will be rocky.
If change is your friend, you are in for the thrill ride of your life.

The path you choose will shape the future.

Some people say WWII veterans, the Baby Boomer parents, were the greatest generation. To get this planetary ship back on course, let us summon the courage and put forth an effort as great as the greatest generation.

YOU are the most important person on the planet.
You and I form the most powerful team imaginable.

It destroys the human spirit and reduces market potential for everyone.

Theft is anti-ecological, corrupts the market, increases injustice, and reduces potential for order and wealth in the world. Theft causes scarcity by taking something that belongs to someone else. Scarcity results when you are robbed of one or more of five sources of wealth. Theft of expectations is on the of five thieves.

Chasing these thieves away enriches the world, attracts money and material wealth, enlivens livelihood and opens the way for spiritual expression. Eliminating these increases your wealth in all dimensions, for yourself and others.

Today, let’s illuminate and eliminate theft of expectations.

One of the biggest killers of human potential and economic prosperity, theft of expectations affects human relationships in every way. How we deal with met expectations AND, more importantly, how we handle UNMET expectations affects our self-confidence and self-esteem. It also weighs heavily in our future choices and decision-making.

Everyone has experienced the disappointment of stolen expectations. This is especially true in the areas of money, business and finance. Every person I know and have ever met has in some way, been robbed of expectancy. This can have a major impact on how you see yourself.

An example of stolen expectations so prevalent in today’s world is the proliferation of “money-making” business opportunities. Being in business for yourself is one of the most challenging of all endeavors. Yet, marketing and advertising claims scream at us every day how we can make tons of money with little work, effort, time, risk or investment. We are told stories of riches beyond our wildest dreams, shown pictures of people on boats, in front of new cars and at the doorway to their luxury homes. The captions usually read or imply,

“THIS COULD BE YOU!”

Think back to the last experience when your expectations were stolen, and how it left you feeling afterwards. Not a pretty picture. This is a crime of the highest magnitude in the spiritual and infinite worlds. Although it is not a true crime in the material and emotional worlds, theft of expectations almost always leaves us poorer economically and emotionally.

Another area in which theft of expectations runs rampant is in the buyer-seller relationship. False expectations relayed by a seller to a buyer of the real benefits and value of a product or service leaves us confused and uncertain, breaches trust and damages long term relationships.

This is why 90% of the people I ask the question, “Do you like to be sold?” will answer “NO!”

Even sellers and distributors of products and services themselves (aren’t we all in some way) dislike being sold. Why?

Because their past experience of having their precious expectations stolen.

Conversely, false interest or expectations by a buyer also diminishes the market. A seller’s time is his stock in trade, regardless of the product or service sold. Wasting time with tire-kickers is wasting life. We all sell something, and everyone has had time wasted by people pretending to be interested. As a professional, it is your job to qualify people more carefully, and spend as much of your time with the HUNGRY FISH as possible. How do you know?

Ask a few simple, direct questions like,

“What is your real time frame for buying, or taking action?”

“If you found what you were looking for, how soon would you want it to start working for you?”

These and related questions point to the most important piece of information you need to know about your buyer to invest your time wisely:

When will you act?

We waste so much time with just about anyone who expresses interest, that we sometimes actually foster and subtlety encourage theft of our expectations by buyers. This can be minimized by asking these questions, and establishing an open dialogue about the importance of respecting time.

I find myself saying much more often,

“I really respect OUR time – yours and mine. I want to make sure we are on the same page. Where in the buying process are YOU? Are you ready, or just getting ready? Are you looking for alternatives to get started right away, or just shopping for now?”

The more you can professionally determine the state of readiness of your buyer, the more efficient and effective will be your interaction.

As a buyer, don’t let people think you are close to buying, if you are not. Be an open and honest buyer, and you can expect your interactions with sellers will be much more professional and enjoyable.

As a buyer, YOU manage the relationship. As a seller, it is so much more fun and productive to work with honest and truthful buyers. It is a measure and reflection of our professionalism to be able to know with certainty where the buyer is in the BUYING CYCLE™.

If you’re ready to play a new game of business, money and life, I encourage you to get in the game, jump on the field, step up to the plate, and swing the bat.

My aim is to help you prepare your game plan, assemble your team and play to the best of your ability.

It’s time to play by new rules, design a new strategy, practice new economics, seek a new mission, send a new message, chant a new mantra, find new solutions, acquire new skills, build a new model and generate new money.

These are the 10 core principles to play and win The NEW Game of Business!™

September 11 is always a special day; it’s Mom’s birthday. That day took on a whole new significance in 2001. September 11, 2004 was the first birthday without Mom. She passed on March 22, 2004. Mom was a giving person, always sharing what she had with others. She encouraged her children to be generous, and modeled it by her actions.

Mom’s spirit was to celebrate life. To honor her spirit and her birthday, on September 11 I decided to invite anyone who wants one to download a digital copy of my book, The NEW Game of Business.

There is one request I have that I hope won’t offend you (some people have called me horrible things for this):

To download the book and read it, I ask you first to “PLAY it Forward!”

I ask you to share it with other people who you feel would appreciate it, read it, benefit from it, and not be offended that you would send them a gift without their permission. As I said to one highly critical opponent of PLAY it Forward, “It’s a game. You can pass, or you can play.”

If you’d like to download and read a digital version of, “The NEW Game of Business™” visit our home page and click the BIG RED BUTTON on the right that says, “PLAY it Forward!”